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I still have a few 2013 releases to catch up with, and I though I wanted to make my Oscar nominations predictions post having seen all of them, the nods are due early tomorrow morning so I’ll have to post them now.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone into a movie feeling both such a tremendous level of excitement while also feeling dubious and guarding myself for potential disappointment. I know it’s said a lot, perhaps too much, but Jack Kerouac‘s On the Road is the type of book that changes lives if you read it at just the right time and age. It did for me, I remember having read this, Stephen Chboksy‘s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay during the same year and all three of them, paired up with J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, remain amongst the most influential pieces of literature I’ve encountered in my life.

Trouble with the Curve is a nice little adult-oriented movie, the kind that exists in this world because older people will pay to watch it even though there are no explosions in it, which made it possible for this film to begin filming back in March of this year and find its way into theaters just half a year later. It’s also a nice little movie in the sense that, yes, it may be quite predictable and it has no real thrills to it, but it more than makes do and is worthy of a recommendation from me just because of its cast, its trio of lead performers that have such charisma and chemistry with each other that you just buy into it all.

First of all: you’re going to have to bear with me here, this will probably be one of my long reviews. That’s because, of course, not only is The Master one of the most buzzed about films of the year, but it’s also a film by Paul Thomas Anderson, my favorite director. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you may know I love lists, I love quantifying stuff from favorite movies to favorite long-takes, whatever. My list of favorite directors is a revolving door of greats, but for quite some time now I’ve known that, no matter which masters of cinema occupy the spots right below him, Paul Thomas Anderson is the solid number 1 for me.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: there’s no film this year that even comes close as far as how much I’m anticipating it to Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master. With the film nearly two weeks away now (finally!) we’ve gotten the final theatrical trailer for it, which you can watch after the cut.

The last time Clint Eastwood was in front of the camera was in 2008’s Gran Torino, which many saw as his retirement from acting, with the then 78-year-old living legend dedicating himself just to directing. Well, he’s coming out of that retirement as a favor to his long-time producing partner Robert Lorenz who’s directing Trouble With the Curve, which just got a trailer that you can watch after the cut.

Les Misérables is a bit too over-the-top and pompous, but it’s still seriously well-made, with a passion and energy that translates to the performances (with one critical omission) even if it doesn’t always do the same with the vocals. Read my review for it here.

Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to The Hurt Locker is an undeniable masterpiece, a film that’s both disturbing and 100% necessary, the most vital film about post-9/11 America. Read my review for it here.